1. Fostering Creativity in Play

2. Purposes of Play Physical development
Outdoor play connects typical and atypical children to nature and their environment
Cognitive skills – Piaget & Vygotsky believed that imaginative play is one of the purest form of symbolic thought
Language development
Dramatic play
Games with rules

3. Expression of feelings
Independence
Divergent thinking

4. Piaget’s Stages of Play
Functional Play (0-2) – the child engages in repetitive activities
Constructive Play (2-4) – learning to use simple materials to satisfy a purpose
Dramatic Play (4-7) – assigning roles and taking upon the roles
Games with Rules (7-11) – understanding rules and learn how to cooperate

5. Parten’s Stages of Play
1. Unoccupied behavior – during infancy, a child occupies himself by watching anything of momentary interest

6. 2. Onlooker play – young toddlers focus on the activity rather than the environment

7. 3. Solitary play (toddlers) – the child plays alone without the regard to what other children are doing

8. 4. Parallel play (ages 2-3) – a child sitting next to another child, playing with the same toys, but in a different way. It is the early stage of peer interaction, but the focus is on the object rather than another child

9. 5. Associative play (ages 3-4)- a child goes in and out of the play with other children, uses same toys and participates in the same activity, but in his own way

10. 6. Cooperative play (ages 4 and up) – group play that involves organized ideas, assigned roles, taking turns, making friends, organizing games and activities

11. Factors Likely to Facilitate Creative Play
Teacher-Directed Play
Child-Initiated Play with teacher support
Teacher intervention in play
Practical ways to stimulate and extend play
Ask questions
Make suggestions
Provide plenty of time for play
Use language to Enrich play
Make a special point of including children who have disabilities

12. Cast yourself in the role of assistant to the child as you help play emerge
Move with the child’s play – sense what will enhance the play and offer suggestions
Put yourself in the position of the child
Put children in command of play

13. A rich background of actual life experience is fundamental to developing creative play – fieldtrips, experiences with many ethnic groups, books and visitors will enrich their imagination
Offer many opportunities for outdoor play
Equipment plays an important role in facilitating play – include open-ended materials that can be used in a variety ways (boards, blocks, ladders)
Rotate the materials frequently and rearrange them in a appealing and complex ways
Store materials in convenient, easy-to-reach places

14. Specific Activities to Encourage Creativity in Play
Creative dramatic play – add variations
Importance of Block play:
Emergent perceptual-motor skills – stacking, reaching, grasping, lifting, carrying, balancing
Emotionally satisfying block play – help children feel strong and masterful and creative
Visual-spatial relationships
Cognitive development

15. Water play
Mud and sand
Computer and digital screen play